1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a process management apparatus, a user terminal apparatus, a process management program, a user terminal program, a record medium, a process management method, and a search method.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, the workflow system has become known that manages and automates the flow of documents and information passed between concerned parties for the purpose of facilitating smooth work when these parties work together via a network (see Non-patent Document 1 through 3, for example).
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of a related-art workflow system. FIG. 1 illustrates an example of the related-art.
A document management system for managing documents and a constituent information management system for managing constituent information may be already in existence. In such a case, as shown in FIG. 1, a newly created workflow system copies a document from the document management system according to need, and attaches attribute information and the like regarding the workflow to the copied document, followed by storing the document in the database of its own. The workflow system further copies constituent information from the constituent information management system, and attaches attribute information and the like regarding the workflow to the copied constituent information, followed by storing the document in the database of its own. In this manner, the documents and constituent information are used for processes relating to the workflow. Here, the constituent information refers, for example, to user information (or company member information) in the company or the like where the constituent information management system is installed, and also refers to information about groups and organizations to which the users belong.
[Non-Patent Document 1]
Haruo HAYAMI, “Workflow Management System Having Advanced This Far (1),” Information Processing Society of Japan Magazine, Vol. 39, No. 11, pp. 1160-1165 (1998)
[Non-Patent Document 2]
Haruo HAYAMI, “Workflow Management System Having Advanced This Far (2),” Information Processing Society of Japan Magazine, Vol. 39, No. 12, pp. 1258-1263 (1998)
[Non-Patent Document 3]
Haruo HAYAMI, et al., “Workflow Management System Having Advanced This Far (3),” Information Processing Society of Japan Magazine, Vol. 40, No. 5, pp. 507-513 (1998)
In the method illustrated in FIG. 1 as described above, modification may be made to documents in the document management system or to constituent information in the constituent information management system. In this case, such modifications must be reflected in the workflow system that has copied these documents or the constituent information.
In many cases, however, the administrator of the workflow system, the administrator of the document management system, and the administrator of the constituent information management system are all different. It is thus sometimes difficult to make modifications promptly reflected in other systems.
In recent years, an increasing importance has been attached to the prevention of leakage of confidential corporate documents, private information, and the like. In such a climate, copying of documents and/or constituent information may not be permitted in consideration of security.
Accordingly, there is a need for a workflow that can be used without a need to copy information from another system, and that can flexibly cope with modifications to the information. There is another need for a method of conducting a quick, efficient search for processes, activities, documents, and/or constituent information relating to each other.